“Come on. There is so much more out there than this.”

A Thousand Steps into Night follows Miuko, a young girl straining against societal expectations, as she tries to break her curse—and maybe save the world, while she’s at it.

The Ghibli comparisons are spot on—this book is so whimsical and fun! It felt like I was reading a fairytale, with all the usual highs and lows that make a good fairytale quest. Based on Japanese mythology, it’s full of spirits and demons, magic and mischief.

The cast of characters is lovable and memorable, and even the more unfamiliar aspects of the world-building are explained, and in an incredibly fun way too. Miuko’s arc is moving and expertly crafted; I loved the way her struggles felt real and serious without taking away from the light tone of the book. Every one of the supporting characters is fun and easy to root for (or sometimes fun to hate). All the aspects of this book come together to form just an enjoyable story that I had a blast reading.

My only critique comes back to how much this feels like a fairytale. While I really, really loved that aspect, and while it’s what will make the story stick with me, it did make this book take longer to read. There wasn’t as much sense of urgency; I could put the book down for a few days and come back to it without feeling lost. Generally speaking, this definitely isn’t a bad characteristic, and if I ever reread it’ll be perfect, but trying to read it regularly and somewhat quickly was difficult due to that fairytale quality.

Overall, A Thousand Steps into Night is simply a fun book to read, perfect for anyone wanting to get their fill of fun and whimsical fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarion Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A Thousand Steps Into Night is the latest Young Adult Fantasy from author Traci Chee, author of The Reader Trilogy. That trilogy (The Reader, The Speaker, and The Storyteller) was a really surprising and meta take on dark YA fantasy, with some real heartbreaking moments along the way, and I really recommend it. So when I saw that Chee was returning back to fantasy with this book (after an award winning/nominated work of historical fiction based upon Japanese internment camps), I was immediately interested.

And while A Thousand Steps into Night isn't quite as interesting as The Reader trilogy, it's still really well done and enthralling Japanese-myth inspired YA. Featuring a girl who doesn't fit in in a society with strict gender roles, who winds up becoming cursed to become a demon and is forced to go on an adventure, the story features a very strong heroine, a surprising mid-book turn, and a really great setting. Add in some excellent side characters, and a story with strong themes - particularly about the fight for more freedom and opportunities for people of all genders (M/F/NB, cis or trans/queer) - and an adventure that never gets less interesting and well, this is very enjoyable and I had problems putting it down, even if it never quite hits a level of greatness.

Trigger Warning: Forced Kissing - twice, once by a character actually trying to make an advance on the victim. That's as far as it goes, so it's not that bad, but fair warning.

----------------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------
From birth, it was clear Miuko wasn't really fit for her role in life as a girl in the servant class in the realm of Awara. She was too loud, too clumsy, too outspoken, etc. - traits that did not make her particularly attractive as a marriage prospect, the duty of a girl of her age/era/social status. But she had a safe more or less happy life as the daughter of a single father, helping him run the inn in their falling-apart village.

Until one day, an errand leads to a chance encounter with a demon and a terrible curse - a curse that will turn Miuko herself into a demon of vengeance who will kill/destroy anything she touches. Cast out in fear from her village, Miuko desperately goes forth into the world for the first time searching for a cure to the curse, alongside a thieving magpie spirit who she chanced upon on the road.

But Miuko's quest is filled with perils, as the humans of Awara are not kind to girls and women out on the streets alone, and the spirits, gods and demons of this land are ever present, and very dangerous to those who encounter them. And then there's the demon prince Miuko keeps encountering her, who wishes for her to complete her deadly transformation to be at his side. And then there's Miuko herself - having experienced freedom for the first time, does she really want to go back to that life in the first place?
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A Thousand Steps Into Night combines two not too uncommon types of stories. First it's a story inspired by Japanese myth/fantasy*, with gods, spirits, and demons all living not alongside, but not too near humans, such that they're ever present as a threat and yet not fully understood, allowing our protagonist to be surprised (or worse) when she encounters them. Second it's a story of a girl in a world with strict gender rules - misogynistic and often anti non-cis rules - who learns how she chafes at those rules, and winds up taking steps in the end, as she encounters differences in attitudes in other places and times, to change all that. A lot of readers will have encountered both types of stories before, or even the combination.

*The blurb describes it as "Japanese-Influenced", and the world seems familiarish to me based upon other Japanese myth inspired stories, but the book contains footnotes and explanations of words used and creatures who show up as if they are from an invented language instead of Japanese, so I'm not sure anything is directly ripped from Japanese myth as much as just very inspired by and very similar in concept*

That said, Chee makes this combination really work, and a large part of that is how enjoyable the world and its characters are, especially Miuko. Miuko blurts out whatever comes into her head, and is clumsy, and well these things don't really change. She also is a girl with an incredibly good heart, who pines for her father's caring, and who wants desperately to stay human and not wind up becoming a threat to her friends. And as she adventures, she realizes that she enjoys the feeling of freedom and that while she would never want to be a boy (and trans people exist in this world and are relevant characters, if marginalized in a plot point) she isn't sure she'd want to go back to a world where she didn't have that freedom, and where she just stayed back in the inn....even with all the hardships she's endured. But while Miuko is brave and learns to be more daring as the book goes on, she's most notably not perfect, often screwing things up and occasionally doing some pretty bad things without realizing it - things she badly tries to make up for later. And so she's just a really enjoyable heroine to follow, especially as the book throws things for a loop in its second half (more on that later).

Add in the side characters and the world, and well you've got something special in this story. Most notably there's the magpie Geiki, Miuko's first and most important companion, a spirit who has two bird forms and can transform when no one's looking, who like a typical magpie loves to steal things - at least for the enjoyment of stealing, not actually for keeping whatever he steals. He's not the most knowledgeable of companions - especially about the human world - but he's such a, well eager is the wrong word, but free-spirited (pardon the pum) character that he's a great foil for Miuko, who begins so anxious and shy. In a very nice touch, Miuko and Geiki's relationship is that of friends, and is never romantic (there is no romance in this book), but it grows to the point where they obviously care deeply for one another, which affects their actions as they try to save the other from the threats they encounter.

And then you have the rest of the world, whose demons, humans, spirits and gods are all diverse in types and attitudes, leading to a plot that takes some very surprising twists - especially at the book's midway point, where everything takes a turn on its head. This leads to a climax that features a very different - a very changed Miuko - making a choice with the help of her friends that she could not have even imagined at the beginning. It's a plot that deals with the struggles of those who aren't cis men/boys, and Miuko fights not only for the safety of people from the demon antagonist in this story, but also for people both like her (cis girls) and not like her (trans or NB characters) to have more choices in life, to not be ruined and limited to certain places and roles, and to be free in the end.

Perhaps the changes Miuko wreaks in the end come to easy, and perhaps this story never really hits the edges of greatness that I've seen other books with similar themes do, but A Thousand Steps Into Night still works really well and is an excellent YA/Coming-of-Age fantasy that I will definitely recommend.

Initial Thoughts
I was so excited to read this one. I had just finished a few other Asian inspired / mythology inspired books and was on a real kick with reading them and this one sounded so good.

Some Things I Liked
Plot and the journey. I actually really liked the story in this one and the journey that the characters took. I thought it was a really interesting story and it introduced a lot of really interesting mythological concepts and characters that I'd like to learn more about.
No romance. I actually kind of liked that this story didn't have romance. We didn't meet any characters that would have made for a good romance and I think the main character wasn't really looking for that.
Self fulfilling prophecy as a theme. I loved this. It's one of my favorite tropes with mythology based books and it was done really well here.

Some Things I Wasn't Crazy About
Footnotes. I hated the footnotes. While I loved being introduced to new concepts and I loved that they were defined in this story, I hated that they were presented as footnotes. I'm not the type of reader who is going to go back to the word and read the definition and reread the chapter. This book was too heavy with words that required constant defining.
Chapter numbers started over in part 2. Now that could just be a me thing but I hated this about this book. Why bother numbering the chapters if you're going to confuse me and start from the beginning??

Series Value
I don't think I'd read a sequel to this book, if there was going to be one. The plot feels resolved to me and I wasn't crazy about the storytelling and the footnotes. I'd read more from this author if the formatting was different.

Final Thoughts
I wanted to like this one so much more than I did. I think part of the issue was that I read it back to back with several other books with similar themes that I liked so much more. Perhaps if I had read this one randomly at a different time, I'd have liked it more but as compared to my other recent reads, this one was a touch lackluster.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wonderful! Like a breath of fresh air and full of amazing plot points. The characters felt on point and the story was just amazing. READ THIS SO MUCH.

The premise of this book is so interesting, following the harrowing adventures of a girl who is trying to reverse a curse that was placed on her for reasons unknown. In doing so, she meets a variety of interesting characters and finds herself in many strange predicaments.

Things I quite enjoyed:

📚 The Japanese-inspired fantasy and landscapes. It almost reminded me of a Ghibli film in its whimsical descriptions, and this was my favorite aspect of the book!
📚 The friends and companions the protagonist finds along the way. I love a good found family, and I enjoyed getting to know each character in turn.
📚 The self-acceptance and confidence gained by many of the characters.
📚 Relevance to real social issues and how we can see true progress being made by the end of the book.
📚 The struggle between wielding power and losing oneself to that power.
📚 The events concerning summoning that answer many questions and help her along her journey. I don’t want to give any spoilers away by saying more! 🤐


Some things I didn’t love:

📚 The quantity of conversations about gender roles felt a bit heavy handed. We saw it in each situation the protagonist witnessed, so I didn’t feel like we needed quite as much of it in her inner dialogue additionally.
📚 The pacing felt a bit inconsistent, and there were times I couldn’t put the book down and others that either felt too rushed or slow.
📚 The end felt really rushed, like there wasn’t enough room to cram in what needed to be added to the story. I almost feel like this would have been a better duology so that there would be plenty of time and space to process some of the bigger events, especially near the end.


Overall I enjoyed the book!

Anything involving Asian culture, folklore or mythology piques my interest, so when I got the chance to pick up this book I jumped at the chance. This title definitely did not disappoint.

I can sometimes struggle with some fantasy because of the info dumping or too much worldbuilding at once, but with this book I felt like the storytelling pacing and worldbuilding was really well balanced. The characters were very well developed, especially the main character. She was very three dimensional and it was clear that her character was well thought out.

This book was really hard to put down and while truly a fantasy, it delved into some very important topics. The story moves well and keeps you reading until the very end.

4.5 stars! This was an absolutely wonderful book! Miuko, the protagonist, is Just Some Girl, but instead of being chosen as a hero, she turns into a demon. The story traces her attempts to keep her humanity, while making her first real friends (found family my heart!). Geiki, her first friend, has my whole entire heart. He is the most annoying and genuine character I can remember. Feminism and gender diversity are woven throughout the story. Also, Miuko doesn't love reading or stories, which is definitely unique.

One quibble: this book is marketed as dark feminist YA, and it's not all that dark. I think it would be a perfect middle grade to YA transition. Chee's writing style definitely reads pretty young for YA, and I wasn't a huge fan, but the story distracted me.

I have never read any Traci Chee book before but I do own one of them and they’ve been on my radar for a long time. So, when I got the opportunity to read this arc which had such a fun premise, I couldn’t resist.

I’m always up for books with fairytale feels and folklore inspirations and this book, with a blend of both, was super entertaining and fun. The world building is very immersive and we feel transported to Awara, meeting all the supernatural creatures. There were footnotes with explanations for terms, meanings and any underlying stories associated, along with pronunciations and I thought it was a perfect way to get to know the history of this world better. The writing is wonderful and fast paced and the adventure is very engaging, making me wonder every chapter where it was going next. And the fairytale feel was so strong that I knew ultimately, good would prevail.

The main theme of the book is also something I really enjoy when explored in SFF. Awara is a very patriarchal and misogynistic society with very a confined and restricted role for women and anyone crossing them is made to suffer. The author explores the confines and possibilities that gaining power can provide to a woman from such an environment. I thought the discussion about what is more important - never being powerless again or retaining one’s humanity even if it means going back to a powerless existence - was very thoughtful and fascinating. And the story also proved that just having power doesn’t mean anything, it’s what is done with the power that gives meaning to it.

Muiko is an ordinary girl living in a forgotten village but she has always felt that she doesn’t fit the box that she is expected to limit herself to. When she is cursed and chased away from her village, but the curse also keeps giving her more power, she faces the dilemma of what she wants to be - a malevolent demon who is shunned by everyone and is destined to kill, or a human woman with all the restrictions that come with her regressive society. The rest of the story is about what this young, kind but loud woman wants to choose for herself but frankly, it’s never in doubt what she will do to protect the people she cares about and maybe even the country which doesn’t actually accept her the way she is.

In her adventures, she is aptly supported by her new found friend Geiki, who is a magpie spirit and can’t resist stealing whatever shiny thing he comes across. But he is absolute hoot whenever he is on page and probably the main source of entertainment throughout. We also encounter many other different kinds of spirits, humans, demigods and gods who all end up helping Muiko in their own ways and it all made for such a thoroughly captivating journey.

Overall, this was the perfect kind of fairytale-esque Japanese folklore inspired story I could have asked for which is full of thrilling adventures, an enchanting world and a cast of characters who are very easy to love. I’m so glad I finally got to experience Traci’s writing and can’t wait to checkout their backlist.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

The first half of this book was phenomenal. I was so drawn into this magical world, and I really couldn’t guess how it would end. I found Miuko very strong-willed and independent, and I was fascinated by her transformation and relationship with Tajiyazai. The second half was a bit slower, and I thought the journey dragged in places. I wanted to see more of the villain’s backstory, and honestly I was far more interested in him than Geiki. The ending was decent in that all the ends were tied together, but I wasn’t amazed by it. Still, Chee’s storytelling is fantastic.

This was a glorious read!

If you want a story of a person unbecoming and unraveling everything they thought they knew about themselves.

Read this book.

If you want a story about found family.

Read this book.

If you want a story about gods and monsters and spirits and demons.

Read this book.

If you want a story with witty banter and humorous internal musings.

Read this book!

While reading this book all I could think about was how it was a blast to read, like, everything that could go wrong was going wrong, there were life and death stakes, not only for the hero but for her family and friends and nation, but I just felt very happy while reading it, anxious for the stakes, but I was enjoying it!

It’s a very odd feeling, but it felt like a breath of fresh air!

I definitely recommend this book!

Awara is a land in which spirits, demons, and humans exist together. Miuko is just a girl, one confined to the decidedly uneventful life of an innkeeper's daughter. When she is cursed and begins to slowly turn into a demon--Lady Death, with a lethal touch--she finds herself leaving her quiet life behind in order to find a way to stop her malison. Over her quest she will make friends, like the mischievous magpie spirit with kleptomania, and enemies, like the demon prince who is constantly thwarting her. Miuko's quest gives her a freedom she never expected... but is it worth the cost of her humanity?

This is my first read from Traci Chee. In truth, I wasn't sure what I was in for with this one. The lovely cover and Japanese-inspired world drew me in, but otherwise I had an idea of how this story would play out. I was wrong, and I'm glad I was. 4 stars.

One of the things I loved right away was the playful prose that had the enchanting tone of an age-old fairy tale. The chapters are short and quick, following Miuko's quest as it unfolds, with a light sort of feeling that is both simplistic and engaging.

The second thing I loved was that the story does not go where I expected it to. To be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly sure what it was I expected, but this was definitely not it. It was a pleasant surprise that continued to entertain. Miuko is a heroine that still manages to somehow be relatable, and she's accompanied by a colorful cast of characters. Experiencing the world of Awara alongside her was certainly an adventure!

In lieu of spoilers, all I want to say is this: read this novel. Read it for the fairy tale feeling or for the Asian-inspired atmosphere. Read it for the comfortably average heroine, or the humorous characters. Read it for the focus on friendship and self-acceptance (no romance!) Whatever reason you chose, I just hope you read this.

Review posted to Goodreads on February 1, 2022.

Addictive. Absolutely addictive. I love the footnotes scattered throughout the book. They have personality instead of just a dictionary-type explanation for things and I really enjoyed the story. Feminist vibes, but I didn't hate it. Would love to read more work by the author.

Fantastic fantasy. The story hooked me so fast. All of the spirits and creatures that Miuko met blew me away. I couldn’t put the story down!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So, I requested this THE MOMENT I saw the cover. I'm also not super familiar with Japanese mythology, so that was appealing too. Right off the bat the story was the perfect reflection of the cover - the fairy tale style of the writing was enchanting and Miuko was immediately likeable.
Unfortunately, right around the25% mark it started to slow down and I had to force myself to go on.

This story was so very good. It was fast-paced with lots of twists and turns. I loved the main character and her yearning for more than traditional gender roles would allow her to have. She was very strong, brave, and resourceful. I enjoyed learning about some Japanese mythology. The author used footnotes in an excellent way to help non-Japanese speakers both pronounce and define words she used. Overall most of the characters can go along with the theme of not judging a book by its cover, or of being more than expected based on your gender or form. The descriptions were so lovely and some of the spirits she encountered made me laugh. While this is a stand-alone book, I would love to revisit these characters some day! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC! 5/5

Reasons I loved this book:
Strong female protagonists
LGBTQ representation
Diverse author and protagonist
Fairytale/Adventure
Commentary on gender norms
Emphasis on relationships
Respect for life
Value of integrity and sincerity

I had a few things that I wanted answered, but I can live without. I can’t wait for the further adventures of Miuko and Geiki!

Can’t wait for the next book! Thank you to the author, publisher and netgally for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Read this one.

A story of demons, spirits, humans and how we are all interconnected! Muiko is turned into a demon with powers to kill with a single touch, but her transformation won’t be complete until she takes her first life and her human soul just keeps interfering. Through her journey to lift the curse of the demon she meets some unlikely friends and discovers who she is despite society’s declarations for girls and women at the time. Beautiful girl power story too

Unfortunately, this story fell short of the mark for me. It seemed like there was some great plot build up, and than it kind of falls apart. There was nothing super stand out about it, and I found myself bored. I had high hopes for this one, but to me it just never took off in a way that held my attention.

It seemed really young and the mc's were just kind of annoying. I would think that maybe YA is getting too young for me, however, I still read plenty of YA that I absolutely love.

I would still give this authors other work a chance but this one I did not love.

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and the publishers! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read such a wonderful story!

I'm a little at a loss for words, having just finished this minutes ago and opening this up to write while it's still fresh. I don't know what I expected when I asked for this book when I requested— some fun little fantasy, and it IS but it's so much more— but I'm kind of left stunned right now.

<i>A Thousand Steps Into Night</i> is, at its core, a story about misogyny. That's something I did not expect, or at least not to the extent that it is. And it's handled tactfully and realistically, a frank but hopeful deconstruction of how misogyny affects women. In particular, it touches on aspects of misogyny present in Asian culture because of the setting. Misogyny is presented to us in every layer of the story, not just in the way men treat women but in how women struggle with what's expected of them, how they're supposed to act, even though many know it's not fair.

I'd even wager that misogyny at its core is the true villain of this story, even how it presents in the Big Bad.

Miuko is a character I didn't expect to cherish as much as I did, but she's one of the most genuinely endearing and likable protagonists I've gotten to read about in a very long time. She struggles with her place in the world— or the place she's been told she belongs in by society— and her transformation into a demon is a very literal image of that. She's kind, and earnest, and so, so very lost. And I love her.

All of the characters are charming, from the magpie spirit who becomes her dearest companion to the eccentric forest spirit she meets, and every character beyond that.

There's something of a fairytale vibe to this book, or a folk story. In many ways, it almost reminds me of the strange but charming vibe of Over The Garden Wall, despite them being completely different stories with different aesthetics and everything. It's just... I don't know. It's just charming.

It's also gently, earnestly inclusive of LGBT characters. It has a host of nonbinary and trans characters, actively carving out a place for them in the world.

It feels worth mentioning that through the last fifty pages of this book, I was on the verge of tears for no good reason. I wasn't sad, just... overwhelmed in the best possible way. I'd grown so very attached to these characters, and they were all so earnest, I wasn't ready to let them go.

So... yeah. I like this book a normal amount, haha! On a serious note, I don't know if this will be a standalone or if the author will ever right sequels or books in the same world, but I will read them.

I'll cherish the time I spent with this book for a long time, I think.

*4.5 stars rounded up
For a book about a girl turning into a malevolence demon, this book is surprisingly fun. This is the story of Miuko, a girl cursed to become a demon unless her human soul can prevail and she can kill the demon prince following her before she fully turns. This book is really told in the style of a fairy tale, which I really love. It reads normally, but the plot structure is like you’re reading a myth, which is so fun. There are also so many interesting characters to observe, between humans Miuko scares or spirits she enlists. My favorites were Senara and Geiki (obviously) but everyone in this story is someone worth reading about. Geiki's natural charisma really humanizes Miuko even more than before in making her more lighthearted during a hard situation.
The world itself is done so well. I did think it was tiresome to have such a detailed world that you needed FOOTNOTES to say what everything was, and I still do, but it thins out after a while to be more manageable. I thought that while the footnotes were cumbersome, it was overall very readable since most things were recurring and not entirely new. Given that Miuko herself doesn’t know everything about the hierarchy of spirits or how on earth she can undo her curse, it’s easy to learn with her.
In terms of the plot, I did think there were a few too many twists and turns. It wasn't too many for the book itself, just a lot to keep up with. There was a segment of the book that was entirely unexpected and while it did make everything make sense a bit more, it also delayed the climax of the novel by a lot. This was really the only thing that bothered me though, and as I just said, it was extremely plot-relevant.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this to fans of dark fantasy with detailed worldbuilding. Although I personally would’ve gotten fed up with the sexism and exclusion and just became a demon, I enjoyed reading about Miuko’s journey and every part of the book.